Just read through this thread and am super surprised no one else named the NYC bar that was my first. A truly iconic place and I loved it - because of the atmosphere, I was entirely too much of a prude and in a really bad head space about sexuality in general and my own in particular.
The Ninth Circle.
if it existed today it would be a reason to go into the City. Rock on the jukebox. Sawdust on the wood plank floor. And, fortunately, no one asked for ID. Of course I was too young. The best kind of bar, a relaxed and relaxing place. No hype, no S&M (standing & modeling), none of the BS that I couldn’t stand then and have even less patience with today.
i remember having a beer and wondering if anyone in the bar, other than me, knew the literary reference of the name, The Ninth Circle. What a brilliant name for a bar. My life’s biggest regret was that I was only an observer back then. I can’t even say I lived in my own skin. It was a universe outside of me that I was cordially invited to visit. And then I’d leave.
Lost years to be sure but I also recognize the fact that it’s likely that I’m alive today only because I “looked at the menu but hadn’t ordered.” And even that makes me sad. Somehow I feel like I cheated all those who don’t make it. But they lived before they died. I was dead before I lived.